CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
ANNEX C ~ BICA Guidelines on Good Practice
It is expected that members will comply with the following standards set by the British Association for
Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) in relation to continuing professional development activity:
CATEGORIES
Activities from 3 or more categories must be undertaken, at least one of which must be from categories 1 – 3.
[N.B. The list of examples is not exhaustive]
Category 1
Examples:
Category 2
Examples:
Category 3
Examples:
Category 4
Examples:
Short Courses on Professional Issues
Courses undertaken in areas of special interest or concern which are
relevant to professional practice in the field e.g. working with abuse, working
with trauma, bereavement, brief therapy…….
These may be offered by training agencies or “in house”.
Seminars and Conferences
BICA study days and AGMs,
Seminars / conferences on topics relevant to professional practice, which
may be organised locally, nationally or internationally, by individuals or
organisations.
Study for Further Qualifications
Further award bearing training in relevant professional field e.g. certificate or
diploma in supervision, or brief therapy, or trauma work
Higher
degree in counselling/ psychotherapy
Encouraging the Development of Others
Designing and facilitating workshops
Offering a training session or giving a talk
at
a
conference
Writing e.g. articles, book reviews, books (relevant to professional practice)
Published research
Initiatives taken alone and in consultation with peers to create and develop
new ideas relevant to the counselling profession and making these available
to others.
Category 5
Examples:
Committee Work / Meetings
Related committee work, local or
Consultation with professional
national
colleagues
leading to initiatives
Membership of committees where the counselling professional may be
represented to others
Category 6
Examples:
Personal Development
Participation in groups
Personal therapy
Learning new skills
Acquiring knowledge and new insights from reading, films, plays
Time and space for reflection